THE BASICS:
SCORE:#11 Valdosta State 78, Albany State 72
RECORDS:Valdosta State 1-0, Albany State 0-1
LOCATION:Albany, Ga. (K-Building Arena)
THE LEAD: With five players in double figures, the No. 11 Valdosta State men's basketball team opened the 2018-19 season with a 78-72 win at Albany State Friday evening in the first game of the Gulf South Conference/Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Regional Challenge.    
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Blazers trailed much of the first 10 minutes of the game, but a layup from graduate Beau Justice tied the game at 20 with 9:25 left, beginning a 6-0 run for a 24-20 lead.  
• ASU tied the game at 24 on a layup from Randy McClure, but a triple from senior Clay Guillozet pushed the lead back in favor of the Blazers as they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the half as they used a 12-4 run for a 39-28 lead with 1:57 capped by a triple from graduate Keshawn Ingram.
• Albany State's Napoleon Harris hit a jumper with 17 seconds left for a 40-31 VSU lead at intermission.
• The Golden Rams quickly cut the deficit to two at 42-40 on a layup from Aaron Washington with 15:25 left as they began the half with a 9-2 run.
• A triple from Jonathan Henderson gave ASU its first lead since the 9:59 mark of the first half for a 47-46 lead with 12:33 left.
• Ingram had the answer for the Blazers with 10:37 left and a triple putting VSU back in front 49-47, but a layup from Jared Harrington gave ASU a 50-49 lead with 9:01 remaining.
• Justice quickly put VSU back in front with a jumper for a 51-50 lead as it wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the game.
• A steal and layup from senior Greg Zupas pushed the lead to 10 at 67-57 with 3:58 left, but the Golden Rams wouldn't go quietly as they cut the deficit to four twice in the closing minutes, and a triple from Henderson made the score 76-72 with five second left.  
• Two free throws from senior Winston Morgan, after a foul by ASU, made the score 78-72 for the final margin.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• VSU shot 45.5 percent on 15 of 33 from the field for the first half, while going 6 of 12 from beyond the arc and 4 of 6 from the line.
• The Blazers had 18 rebounds with nine offensive and nine defensive, for the half, while recording 11 assists and five steals.  
• Junior Darrell Jones had 11 points for the Blazers in the first half on 4 of 6 from the field and 3 of 4 from the line.
• Harris had eight points for the Golden Rams on 3 of 4 from the field and 2 of 2 from the line as ASU shot 50 percent on 12 of 24, while going 2 of 6 from range and 5 of 8 from the line.  The Golden Rams had 10 miscues in the first half.
• For the game, Jones finished 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 6 from the line with a team-high seven rebounds, while graduate Desmond DeRamus also had 13 points off the bench in 16 minutes of action as he was 4 of 4 from the field 2 of 2 from beyond the arc and 3 of 4 from the line.
• Justice added 12 points, while Guillozet and Ingram each had 11.
• VSU shot 29 of 62 from the field for 46.8 percent, while going 9 of 23 from beyond the arc and 1 of 15 from the line.  
• The Blazers had 33 rebounds and recorded 20 assists with 17 turnovers and nine steals.
• ASU was led by a game-high 19 points from Harrington on 7 of 9 from the field and 5 of 9 from the line, while Tyrell Williams narrowly missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds and Henderson added 17 points with five triples and six field goals.
• The Golden Rams shot 51.9 percent from the field, while going 6 of 16 from beyond the arc and 12 of 18 from the line.  The team had 30 rebounds and led 40-38 in points in the paint and 22-16 in points off turnovers.

 
UP NEXT:

• The Blazers face Fort Valley State (0-1) Saturday at 2 p.m., before returning home for the 2018-19 home-opener Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at The Complex versus Tuskegee, VSU begins a five-game home stand.
• Tomorrow's game against Fort Valley State will not have live stats or streaming.